Executive Summary - Sept. 2015

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dow constantine executive summary

News from King County Executive Dow Constantine

September 2015 •  Issue 18

Executive's plan to create affordable workforce housing around transit centers

With people having to endure longer and longer commutes in order to live in a home they can afford, Executive Constantine has launched a regional initiative to create or preserve at least 700 units of affordable workforce housing around transit centers.

Transit-oriented development, like what's planned next to the Northgate light rail extension (above), creates mixed-use, mixed-income communities around high-capacity transit. The Executive's Transit Station Housing and Development Initiative ensures some of that housing is within reach of people who get up every morning and go to work but can't keep up with skyrocketing rents.


"Light rail has the power to transform communities," says Executive Constantine, who also chairs the Sound Transit Board. "With this vision we can be deliberate about creating vibrant, walkable, economically diverse neighborhoods around new and existing stations."


News coverage of the Exec's initiative:

 

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Safe Energy Leadership Alliance - Oil and Coal

Exec hosts summit in B.C. on risks, impacts of oil and coal

Executive Constantine brought together elected leaders from British Columbia and Pacific Northwest states amid an increasing number of oil-train explosions and growing concern about the safety, economic, and environmental impacts of coal export. 

At the quarterly meeting of the Safe Energy Leadership Alliance in British Columbia, elected leaders analyzed the impacts that mile-and-a-half-long coal trains would have on local commerce and traffic, as well as collective action to protect communities from the oil-train explosions that a federal report predicts will cause more than $4 billion in damages and endanger lives. 


"To protect our communities, we must have a unified front that crosses state and international borders," says the Exec. "By working together, we're making our voices heard at the national and international levels---and we're seeing results."


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Chinese President - Seattle Visit

Exec raises issue of climate change with Chinese president

Executive Constantine joined with other state and local leaders in a private meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and had the chance to speak with him one-on-one during September's historic visit.


"I had the opportunity to personally thank President Xi of China for visiting King County," says the Executive. "We discussed King County's commitment to combating climate change and the opportunity for the U.S. and China to cooperate to create solutions to our greatest shared global challenge."


To confront climate change here in King County, we are creating energy efficiencies through actions like monitoring and adjusting the operations of County buildings and vehicles. These steps may seem small, but collectively they are vital to the future of our environment and communities.


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Climate Change Tour - Executive Constantine

Tour highlights local climate change impacts and actions

Across King County, we've always had to respond to weather-related events such as wildfires, floods, landslides, and heatwaves. But today, these events are occurring with greater frequency and severity.

Executive Constantine hosted a media tour along with King County scientists to illustrate how this year's extreme-weather patterns provide a preview of future conditions if we do not take action.

The tour also showed what actions King County is taking to mitigate these impacts, such as making highly-treated recycled water available to farmers, industries, and parks, and helping residents make their communities less susceptible to wildfires.


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